*Back in the observation tower. Bradley was fidgeting in his feet while gritting his teeth*
(Bradley): This is ridiculous. Six members of Javan have already been eliminated and only one member of Shadow Eye is out. What’s going on here? They must be cheating or is Javan really not trying out there? How are such successful knights as Javan losing to this ragtag team?
(Hibana): Because you equate talent with success. Just because someone is talented doesn’t always mean they’ll be successful. You have to put in the hard work and dedicate yourself to mastering what it is you want to do. To you, Shadow Eye looks like a ragtag team, but in truth, you’ll never find an order more united, talented, and hard-working in the whole kingdom.
(Bradley): BAH! What would a shut-in elf like you know about success?
(Hibana): *Low tone* A lot more than you will ever know.
*Hibana turns around in her seat and looks to the screen to see Saber walking through the forest*
(Hibana): By the way, has anyone seen Dust?
(Korone): Hmm~, now that you’ve mentioned it, no. He’s been silent this whole battle and that worries me.
(Zia): He’s binding his time. A spider doesn’t go out hunting for prey, it waits for the prey to come to it.
(Korone): Interesting. Here’s one to think over: nothing is more dangerous than a caged tiger unleashed and on the hunt.
(Hibana): Really? How about this one: out of all the hunters, no one is more clever and smarter than the spider.
(Ryuuji): You don’t send a rabbit to hunt a fox.
*Korone, Zia, and Hibana stare at Ryuuji blankly for his metaphor and he starts to blush from embarrassment*
(Ryuuji): I just wanted to feel included.
*Ryuuji sinks into his chair*
***
*Back in the forest, Saber was walking trying to form a strategy*
(Saber): Okay. Things have really gone bad. I wasn’t expecting everyone to be eliminated. The good news is I’m sure they’ve weakened the other members of Shadow Eye which means we still have a chance to win. It’s a long shot, but I’m sure I can pull it off.
*Just as Saber was about to take another step forward she stopped herself and cut through the air with her sword whip to cut an invisible wire. Focusing her eyes, Saber saw a number of invisible wires around the trees encircling her*
(Saber): Show yourself! I know you’re here!
*Dust lowered himself down from a tree slowly*
(Dust): Enter my den, said the spider to the tiger.
(Saber): You’re going to need a bigger web if you want to catch this tiger. It’s payback time. Today is the day I make you pay for what you’ve done in the past.
(Dust): You’re still on about that? Look, what happened to Torrie was-
(Saber): Shut up! Don’t you dare speak her name, you murderer. I will never forgive you. Even if you got on the ground and begged for forgiveness.
(Dust): Well that’s one thing we know will never happen. I’ve said my piece before and I’ll say it again.
(Saber): Don’t go there Dust. I’m warning you.
(Dust): I’m not going to apologize. I don’t regret my decision and I would do it again if given the choice.
(Saber): Very well. I won’t kill you, but I will make sure you come close to death. Today, I cut you down.
*Saber charges at Dust and swings her sword whip at him where he jumps over her to avoid the attack. Saber’s attack managed to turn into an air slash which cut through a nearby tree. Using the wires he wrapped around the tree, Dust pulled his right arm back to make the tree come toward Saber who slashed the tree up into rings*
(Dust): You want to cut me down? Try it! You wouldn’t be the first one who tried.
*Dust and Saber charged at each other where Dust ducked the slash attack of Saber and used his wires to grab some of the tree rings that Saber cut up earlier. He swung them around to keep Saber at bay. He then tossed them at Saber one by one where she sidestepped to dodge the rings except for the last where she chopped through it. Dust took advantage of this and delivered a dropkick which knocked her backwards into his wires. Once Saber’s back made contact with the wires they exploded*
(Saber): Ahhhh~!
*Saber fell to the ground bent over as her back was stinging from the explosion*
(Saber): What. . .what was that?
(Dust): Just a little something extra to give our fight that final battle feeling. Welcome, to the Exploding Magic Wire Forest Deathmatch. The name is a work in progress. All the wires surrounding us will either cut us or explode upon contact. Pretty cool, right?
*Saber rises back up to her feet with an angry look on her face*
(Saber): Would you take this seriously. This is one of the reasons why I can’t stand you.
(Dust): Why? Because I don’t follow protocols and procedures like a machine and prefer to use my own judgment in situations that demand it? Just because I make jokes doesn’t mean I’m not taking you seriously. Everything I do has a purpose, and every purpose has a reason.
(Saber): That might just be the most profound thing you’ve ever said to me.
(Dust): And that might just be the first time you complimented me. So let’s stop making things weird and get back to fighting each other.
*Saber nodded and fired off her sword whip which extended out towards Dust who jumped in the air to avoid her attack. Saber bent an area on the whip with her finger which caused the whip to extend upwards and slash Dust on his right side. Dust grabbed his right side with his hand as he gritted his teeth. Once he landed, he was smacked across the face with the whip which sent him to the ground. Saber retracted her whip back into a sword and thrust it into the ground. Dust could hear and sense the sword extending into a whip underground and rolled out of the way just in time as the tip came shooting up from the ground. Once the tip was in the air it came back down aiming at Dust who rolled out of the way once again and shot out two wires toward a tree. After dodging the tip for a third time, Dust was pulled by the wires toward the tree. As he was being pulled he was lifted off the ground and flipped his body around so that his feet were facing the tree. Once he landed on the tree sideways, he jumped off the tree towards Saber where he passed Saber on the ground and used that to gain momentum and punch her across the face. Saber was dazed by the hit as Dust landed behind her and he quickly turned around to deliver another punch across her face and followed up by going behind her, chopping the back of her legs with his hand to bring her down to her knees and delivering a thrust kick to the side of her head to bring her down to the ground. Saber recovered from the kick and got back up where she quickly swung her whip hoping to hit Dust, but he flipped in the air over her. As he was jumping over her he shot off his wires to grab the handle of the sword whip and pulled it out of Saber’s hand and tossed it to the side. Not deterred by this, Saber charged at Dust and delivered an elbow strike to his chest. As she was about to pull her elbow back, Dust grabbed it and spun her around to lock in a rear-naked choke hold on Saber. As Saber was slowly fading, she used all of her power to back herself and Dust into some of the hanging wires. Dust hit the wires back first where they cut into his back*
(Dust): AHHH~!
*The pain caused Dust to let go of Saber who grabbed Dust and put him in a side headlock where she began to punch him a few times before tossing him into some other wires face first. Dust got his arms up to protect his face as they made contact with the wires which exploded on impact. Dust clutched his arms and chest in pain before turning and receiving a spinning thrust kick from Saber which sent him back first into the wires where they exploded again. Dust screamed out in pain and fell to his knees as Saber went to retrieve her sword whip. Once Saber picked up her sword whip she turned around and was met with a dropkick courtesy of Dust who managed to recover from the explosions. The dropkick sent Saber into the explosive wires back first where they detonated, and she fell face first to the ground right by Dust who was lying down back first on the ground laughing happily*
(Dust): Now this is what I call a fight! Didn’t think you had it in you to use the wires.
*Dust slaps Saber on the back of her shoulder*
(Saber): Don’t touch me! Don’t believe for one second I’m not afraid to get down and dirty to beat you. I’ll gladly use your wires to my advantage.
(Dust): That’s what I like to hear. Can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m finding this darker side of you incredibly attractive.
(Saber): You won’t, when I’m stomping your head in with the back of my boot. Now give up, because the next time I’m throwing you face first into the wires.
(Dust): Not happening. This fight is just starting to get exciting.
*Dust rolls away from Saber to be on his belly and slowly gets back up where he removes his trench coat. Saber also rose to her feet around the same time as Dust and tossed her broken framed glasses to the side*
(Dust): You know, despite being so “smart” you’ve overlooked one thing. These wires aren’t just for show. They’re to stop you from running away.
*Dust claps his hands and begins to concentrate. His body begins to glow purple and four rune symbols appear on his back*
(Dust): Shadow Beast: Spider Form.
*All of a sudden four spider legs appear on Dust’s back. Two appear on the shoulder blades and two appear on the lower back*
***
*In the observation deck, everyone was shocked at what they were seeing*
(Bradley): What the hell is that!? He really is a demon.
(Hibana): It’s said that everyone has a spirit animal within them. The Shadow Beast technique is used to draw out the powers of that spirit animal. For Dust, his shadow beast is the spider.
(Bradley): A spider? Talk about non-threatening.
(Ryuuji): Don’t be so sure of yourself, Bradley. Spiders may be small, but they are clever and smart hunters. They use creative strategies to capture and take down creatures bigger than them. They’re patient, observant, imaginative, and are a source of fear for a lot of people out there. It’s the one animal that describes Dust to a T.
***
*Back in the woods, Dust had completed his transformation and was staring down Saber*
(Saber): So, the demon has finally stepped out of the shadows.
*Saber swings downward with her sword where her attack gets blocked by the upper purple legs of Dust. Saber was shocked to see her attack stopped by the legs. Dust punched her in the stomach and followed up with an x-slash across her chest with his lower legs. Saber nearly lost consciousness from the attack but managed to stay conscious. She began swinging her sword around in whip mode rapidly encircling herself which forced Dust to jump back or risk getting hurt. Once Dust was away from her, she swung her whip at him but it was futile as he was too fast and easily dodged it. As Dust was running toward Saber, she reached down her skirt and pulled out a Glock with her right hand. Saber fired at Dust where the bullet landed a few inches in front of him and exploded to send Dust flying backwards as Saber struck him in the stomach with the whip. As Dust was being propelled into the wires, he fired two wires toward a tree branch and got pulled up to it*
(Dust): Incendiary rounds. Not bad.
*Saber fired at Dust on the tree branch where he jumped out of the way to another tree branch. Saber fired again and Dust once more jumped to another tree branch to avoid getting hit. After firing five more shots, Dust jumped from the trees as broken branches and bark could be seen flying through the air. Using his wires, Dust grabbed the wreckage and fired it off at Saber who blocked it all with her sword whip. Once the wreckage was destroyed and Dust landed on the ground Saber fired two more incendiary rounds. Dust managed to dodge the bullets by tilting his head to the left. He managed to grab one of the rounds with his wire and throw it right back at Saber. Saber barely dodged the bullet as it hit one of the explosive wires behind her. The combined explosions sent Saber flying forward where she was caught in mid-air by Dust who monkey flipped her into more explosive wires back first and upside down. Another explosion went off which sent her flying back towards Dust who was ready to attack and she had no way to defend herself*
(Dust): Shadow Beast: Eight Paradigm Notch!
*Dust managed to strike Saber with eight simultaneous attacks as she flew by him. The attacks were fast, instantaneous, and effective as Saber was rendered unconscious when she hit the ground. Dust took a deep breath and his extra legs vanished from his body*
(PA System): Saber Kay has been eliminated. Winner is Shadow Eye! Winner is Shadow Eye!
*Fireworks went off in the area symbolizing the end of Kragnarok as Dust raised his fist in victory*
(Dust): Never a doubt in my mind.